By: Dan Sokil
Staff writer

TELFORD — It's all about making noise, and anyone who wants to outlaw teachers strikes in Pennsylvania needs to make their voices heard.

Photos by Geoff Patton

"Go get ten or twenty friends, write your local representative a letter," said Simon Campbell, founder of StopTeacherStrikes.org.

"Tell them 'I see you're taking money from the teachers union, and I'm one of your voters, and I'm getting pretty fed up with you,' and see how quickly they get religion," he said.

Campbell spoke to about 65 community members who packed a meeting room in the Indian Valley Public Library Monday night.

Campbell is a Yardley parent who has become an expert on House Bill 1369, legislation that would outlaw teachers strikes in Pennsylvania.

"I was just like Jill, a parent of a child whose teachers went on strike," Campbell said, referring to Souderton Area parent Jill Basile who organized Monday's town-hall style meeting.

"In the fall of 2005, the teachers in my district in Bucks County went on strike," he said. "I didn't

find out about it until I went to pick up my daughter at school on Thursday and one of the teachers told me, 'By the way, we're striking and won't be in school on Monday.'"

Ever since, Campbell has sought to spread the word statewide about House Bill 1369, holding meetings like Monday night's and founding the Web site www.StopTeacherStrikes.org to help spread the word on how to fight teachers unions.

"We believe that public education exists to the benefit of your schoolchildren, not for school teachers. It's not about the union's leverage, it's about the students," Campbell said.

Basile, who suffered through a teachers strike while in high school, said the goal of Monday's meeting was to spread the word about actions citizens can take.

"It started with Simon in Bucks County, and now we're bringing it here into Montgomery County, and we really need a statewide effort to make sure this bill gets passed," Basile said.

After introducing himself and explaining his background, Campbell described some of the tactics he has seen teachers unions use in disputes like the one Souderton Area is currently embroiled in.

"They always tell everyone their salaries are not competitive, and say 'We don't get paid enough,'" Campbell said, "'but when you look into it, there are 37 states that don't allow teacher strikes. What does Pennsylvania know that those 37 states don't?"

The question is not one of knowledge, but of union power over its members and state politicians, Campbell said, and Pennsylvania has one of the strongest state teachers unions in the country.

"They have a big fancy building with lots of posh lobbyists, right across from the state capitol in Harrisburg," Campbell said. "They're not in the business of improving education for students, they're in the business of union dues collection."

Souderton Area is currently involved in non-binding arbitration after a 13-day work stoppage in September, but House Bill 1369 would require that process to begin the April before the previous contract expires, while eliminating the use of binding arbitration.

"They bring in these professional arbitrators, who are unelected people, who say 'Here's what we think, have a vote,' and pass all of those costs on to the school board. To me that is taxation without representation," Campbell said. "If that's the way we want to go, we might as well bring back the Queen of England."

Actions local boards can take to reduce the power of teachers unions include removing union ability to force non-member teachers to pay union dues, and requiring that dues be collected by the unions themselves instead of by school districts, Campbell told the audience.

"There are good teachers out there, and we're not against the ones who are there to educate children. We're against the ones who get mobbed up in their union and believe they can walk off their job and still be allowed to keep their job," he said.

Basile agreed with Campbell's emphasis on getting the word out, saying she only expected 30 people to attend Monday's meeting and more than twice that number were there.

"I think everybody was very interested in what he had to say, and the meeting was very educational, but now it's up to us to keep knocking on that door until we get results," Basile said.

Souderton Area's school board meets this Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the district offices on Lower Road in Souderton, and two board members were present at Monday's meeting.

"Now is the time to blow that whistle, because if this next contract is approved, it'll be three or four years until this comes up again," said school board member Paul Baumgartner.

"You have to be persistent, and stay after it, and come to the school board meetings, and make sure you understand the issue thoroughly," he said.

As a district resident and taxpayer, Basile is planning on doing exactly that.

"I've already told my husband, 'You're watching the kids Thursday night, because I'm going to be there,'" Basile said.